


Life Day

by dolphingirl16



Series: Fluffy Din and his Clan of Three [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Christmas, Comfort Character, Cozy, F/M, Fluff, Found Family, Life day, Love, Presents, Sort of Christmas, The oc isn't given features so it can be a reader if you squint, Touch-Starved, Traditions, decorations, din being soft, din is a good day, grogu being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:09:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28197447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dolphingirl16/pseuds/dolphingirl16
Summary: Din celebrates his first Life Day with her and the child. They share new traditions and he makes a declaration.
Relationships: Din Djarin/Original Female Character
Series: Fluffy Din and his Clan of Three [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2065647
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	Life Day

**Author's Note:**

> Enjoy!

“Why is it that we need a tree in the ship?” Din asked.

He had just finished hauling a sap-ridden tree into the hull of the ship while she and the kid waited nearby with excited smiles. Grogu was tangled up in a string of lights while she was bent over the counter in the kitchen rolling out some sort of sweet dough.

“I told you! It’s for Life Day! I know it’s no wroshyr tree, but I want to try our best this year,” she said.

Din didn’t understand how a tree could help them celebrate some holiday he’d barely even heard about. Growing up the way he had, there had been little time for celebration. It was all about survival.

“What’s it even for?”

She dropped her rolling pin on the counter and starred up at him in shock. Kriff, she even gathered the kid in her arms as if to shield him from his lack of Life Day spirit.

“Din! Are you serious? We decorate the tree, gather round, and exchange gifts. Have you never celebrated it before?”

Suddenly he felt reminded of just how different the two of them were. She was so, well so soft sometimes. She had all these beautiful traditions to share with the little womp rat while all he could offer was a few words of mando’a. He felt like he was letting the kid down sometimes because of his inability to share so joyfully, so openly, like she did.

“Never had the time. It just wasn’t something we did.”

She plopped the kid in his arms as an offering to remind him the kid needed him just as much as he needed her. The fuzzy little love bug looked up at him with those big black-hole eyes and Din was lost. Every time Grogu gave him that hopeful look it made him want to be a better man. It made him regret all the years he’d spent being just another rough and tumble bounty hunter. 

“Well we’ve got the time now! I want sweet little glue gun to have some good memories!” she said.

“It’s Grogu cyar’ika, we’ve been over this. The kid is confused enough as it is.”

“Yeah, yeah buckethead. But you see how he lights up when I call him all the weird names? He loves it, don’t you gruggy-woogy?”

She was right. The child did in fact start to squirm in his buir’s arms to reach out to her at the sound of the nickname. Din thought about all the weird things she’d called him, and still did, before he’d told her his name. There was buckethead of course, and mando-bando, and sometimes the great big beskar baddie as she was fond of singing when he was being ornery.

“I guess you’re right. But how are we supposed to get him gifts when we won’t be planet-side for a couple rotations at least?” he asked.

It wasn’t that they wouldn’t be planet-side that worried him, it was more that Din had absolutely no clue what to gift the little womp rat. The only gifts he’d ever gotten were weapons and something told him that she wouldn’t appreciate him gifting the little one something dangerous.

Her face fell and Grogu’s morphed to mirror it. The two of them really did spend a lot of time together. He was starting to mimic her emotions. He wondered if Grogu would inherit his scowl if he ever found it in him to take the helmet off. 

But then she straightened with an idea.

“I could make something homemade!” she grabbed Grogu from Din and snuggled him close to her chest, “You’d like that wouldn’t you Grogu?”

He chirped at the usage of his actual name, not the nonsense she’d been spouting before.

Then she pointed at him with her tiny hands, “And you metal man! Don’t think you’re excused from the gift exchange. I want to celebrate properly!”

He was so kriffing out of his league with this one.

A few days passed and Din still had no idea how what give to the child. He assumed that he should give her something too, but wasn’t sure if that was the proper Life Day etiquette. The last thing he wanted was to get a gift from her and have nothing to give in return.

He couldn’t bake like she could. She’d put out sweetbread and ryschate cake for them to try, insistent that it was tradition. He was far too used to dehydrated meals to make something he’d think she’d enjoy. 

“Din! Come here!” she yelled from the hull.

He’d been charting their course to Nevarro to visit with Cara. She’d been sending them holos from time to time saying she missed the kid and wanted to see how they were doing. It was weird for Din to have people in his life who missed him, let alone cared to see how he was doing. 

“Coming,” he said climbing down the ladder from the cockpit. 

She and the kid were sitting on the floor with paper and markers all around them. She’d made him pick them up on his last supply run, insistent that the kid needed to practice with his fine motor skills. 

“I want him to be able to write us letters someday, don’t you?” she’d asked.

Din had just shook his head and handed over the credits.

On the floor she had Grogu’s hand pinned down to a piece of paper while she traced his small hand. Grogu was looking up at her giggling as he tried to squirm away.

“Come on you little wiggle worm! I’ll give you a cup of hoth chocolate if you let me do this!”

That seemed to appease the little terror. He was getting bolder and more mischievous each day. Pretty soon they’d have to bar him from the cockpit if he kept up with his antics. The last thing they needed was him to sneak up there when they were busy and change the course of the ship.

“What are you two doing?” Din asked.

She capped the marker and grabbed a purple one and began tracing her own hand.

“We’re making ornaments! Aren’t we glue gun?”

Grogu giggled and pushed her marker away.

“Grogu, don’t interrupt her drawing,” Din said.

They had been trying to “parent” the kid to the best of their ability, and naturally Din took on the role of the disciplinarian. However, when the kid looked up at him with those eyes it was hard to stay serious beyond a couple of gentle words of reminder.

“Thanks Din. He’s been good for the most part. I think he just likes to show off in front of his buir,” she smiled.

Din felt frozen. He’d been using the word in front of Grogu for a little bit now, ever since Ashoka had explained how Grogu felt about him. But to hear her use the word, it was a whole other story. He wished he could explain to her that she too was the kid’s buir.

“He’s a little womp rat, that’s for sure,” Din said as he rubbed Grogu’s head with his gloved fingers.

She pulled him down to the floor with him and instructed him to place his palm where they had.

“It’s so we can remember how tiny his hands used to be when he’s older,” she said.

Din felt the familiar warmth in her words. Her words promised a future, no, they guaranteed them. 

“Who knows if he’ll even get bigger than this.”

She sighed, “Is it bad of me to hope he doesn’t? He’s just so loveable this size! And portable!”

Din laughed, his vocoder sending out a distorted chuckle, “I can’t imagine not being able to carry him around in my bag when we go out.”

She clutched her hand to her chest, “Don’t even say that! I don’t want to think about him getting older.”

Once Din’s hand was traced, she scurried off to the kitchen and produced three steaming mugs of hoth chocolate, just as promised.

Grogu slurped it down so fast she wasn’t sure how he didn’t burn himself.

“Kriff, it’s like that incident with the frog all over again,” she laughed.

Din smiled beneath his mask. “At least when he was younger he would take his time. Remember that bone broth?”

“Ugh! Just thinking of it makes my heart want to explode!” she snuggled Grogu closer to her, “How are you so kriffing cute!”

Din had to bite his tongue to resist asking her the same question.

Eventually, it was the night before Life Day and they were finally in the holiday spirit. Din had finally got his gifts in order and Grogu had gotten his fill of sweet treats. 

She and the kid were cuddled up in the bunk when she called him in to join them. Grogu sat in her lap we her arm secure around him while Din wondered how close he should sit next to her. He settled with sitting against the wall.

“Oh come on metal man, get closer. You’ve got to be able to see the pictures in the book too,” she groaned.

He shimmied closer and felt glad she’d forced him to. He had been yearning to get close to her and the kid, but wasn’t sure if it was appropriate. 

In her hands she had a roughly constructed book made from the supplies he’d picked up. 

She laughed at his confused tilt of his helmet. “Thought I’d make our own book about the holiday since we couldn’t get one. Groggy helped me with the drawings.”

Din traced his hands over the tiny green shape she’d drawn that looked suspiciously like the one on her lap.

“Why don’t we take turns reading. He loves hearing your voice.”

He felt choked up at the reminder. But it was true, Grogu was always whipping his head around whenever he spoke, even if it was just a boring instruction to her about maintenance on the ship.  
They settled into a rhythm, each taking a page as the kid reached his hands out towards the book of his creation.

“And the tauntauns used their glowing red noses to fly through the sky, past all the snow to deliver the sweet little boy his presents!” she said.

Din cleared his throat when he saw the next picture, “And the family was happy and safe, cozied up by the tree singing songs of Life Day cheer.”

Grogu had scrawled a picture of the three of them — her with that blanket she always had wrapped around her like a cloak, Grogu with his floppy ears and big eyes, and Din with his glistening metal helmet. 

But the thing that got Din choked up the most was the fact that they were all holding hands.

She felt the emotion too, wiping away a run-away tear. 

“Oh love bug, you really know how to get to our hearts don’t you!” she said.

Din inched closer, carefully placing a hand on the kid’s shoulder, “You did a great job kid. Thank you.”

The next morning she woke them all up with her singing. Grogu had climbed out of his pod and onto Din’s chest, tugging at his shirt. He didn’t bother with his armor when it was just the three of them. He still wore his helmet though.

“What is it womp rat? Is your buir singing out there?” Din asked.

Grogu nodded his head and tried to scramble off the bed, almost falling to the floor before Din caught him.

“Let’s be quiet okay? We don’t want to scare her,” he whispered.

As they crept out of the bunk, she continued to sing.

“A day that brings the promise that one day, we’ll be free! To live, to laugh, to dream, to grow, to trust, to love, to be!” she sung out. 

Din imagined a day when no one was hunting the kid, when they could just live together the three of them on a quiet planet not worrying about what was around the corner. She could bake to her heart’s content and he could relax with his son in his arms. Maybe he’d even take off the helmet for them. He trusted her, and he was half sure he loved her too. Someday.

Grogu’s coos alerted her to their presence.

“Oh my! Look at the two of you all cozied up with one another! Happy Life Day sweeties!”

Din had to laugh. If anyone else had heard her call him sweetie they’d never believe it. She made him feel like a different man, a better one.

“Morning cyar’ika. This one couldn’t wait to get up and celebrate with you,” he said.

“Oh I’m sure. I think he probably just wants more hoth chocolate, maybe some presents too!”

She rushed over to them with a secret behind her back.

“Okay, so no fussing Din. It’s tradition,” she said.

She brought her hands forward to reveal three necklaces made of wooden beads. They were brightly colored with rich reds and greens. Right away, Grogu, tugged one his way.

“Oh look! It matches his mudhorn necklace! So sweet,” she sighed before pulling one over his helmet and onto his neck.

She was the only one besides the kid he’d let get that close. She was the only one he wanted that close to him.

“Thank you. Now mesh’la, what comes next?” he asked.

She jumped up and down and tugged them over to the tree which was colorfully decorated in all the ornaments she’d made with Grogu.

“Present time!”

Grogu snapped his head towards her and began to clap his hands together. It was the first time they’d seen him do it.

“Oh my Din! Look at him go!”

Din reached down to rub the kid’s ear, “You showing off for your buir? Is that your present to us?”

Grogu cooed and reached for the tiny gifts that were wrapped in old cloth beneath the tree. 

Din suddenly felt self-conscious of his gifts after seeing the way she’d masterfully wrapped the gifts. 

She must have sensed it because she place her hand on his forearm with a squeeze, “Today is about celebrating family and the little ones like Grogu who bring new life into our lives, not about the presents. Don’t worry Din. I’m sure he’ll love whatever you made.”

In reality, he was more worried about what she would think about his gift to her.

Grogu opened up his gift from her first. Inside the cloth was a stuffed bantha sewn together from an old outfit she’d deemed unsalvageable. 

He toddled over to her and collapsed in her lap, holding tight to his new toy. 

“I think he likes it,” Din smiled observing the way his tiny hands clung to her dress.

“I hope so! I pricked my finger so many times trying to sew it together while he was asleep!” 

Din rubbed his hand down Grogu’s back and relaxed into his seat. He hadn’t felt so at rest in ages.

“Okay womp rat, it’s time for another,” Din said.

Grogu abandoned her to climb into his buir’s lap as he opened the present from him.

She was just as happy as Grogu was when she saw it.

“Din! Those are beautiful! How did you have the time to make those?” she asked.

In Grogu’s hands were three carved wooden figures, bearing resemblance to the three of them.

He placed his hand awkwardly on the back of his helmet and looked away. 

“I’ve had sometime during your naps together. Do you think he liked them?”

She scooted closed and put her arm on his again. He wanted to live in that feeling forever. The soft pressure of her hand was a salve to his years of loneliness.

“Din, are you crazy? Look at him. He’s already tossed the bantha aside. I think they might even outrank the metal ball now!”

Din laughed, leaning into her more, “I think it’ll be a warm day on Hoth before that ever happens cyar’ika!”

While Grogu played with his new toys she scurried away to share another tradition with her boys. She came back to one bright candle that reflected off the shiny garland they had strung up around the hull. 

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but it’s tradition to say a little prayer for the coming cycle as the candle burns,” she said.

Just as she accepted any piece of his culture, he was eager to do the same for her.

“Of course cyar’ika.”

She prayed that it would be the three of them forever. She wanted so badly to watch Grogu grow up, and master the force just as Askoka said he could. She wanted to be with him and Din every step of the way, even on the hard days. 

Din had a similar hope in mind as he meditated by the candlelight. He, however, wished that he would someday find the courage to show just how much she meant to him. He wanted them to be a true aliit, with her as his riduur. He wanted to look upon her face without a mask, and have her and Grogu see him, truly see him at last.

When the candle stopped burning she pulled herself away from her boys and reached under the tree. She looked sheepish for a change as she approached him with the present.

“I uh made you something small. I know I didn’t say that adults exchanged gifts too, so don’t worry about not getting me anything,” she said.

Din stopped her from fretting by grabbing her hands, present be damned. Being with the two of them was present enough.

“Just open it you buckethead!”

Inside was a small sketch book full of drawings she’d done during their travels. There was one of Grogu drinking his broth and another of Din holding him up in his arms by the water with a brilliant smile on the little green monster’s face. She;d captured the simple joys that lingered on his mind every night before he went to bed. 

“Cyar’ika… this is too much. I don’t know what to say,” Din grunted out. He could feel a tear trying to wiggle its way down his face.

She leaned her head on his shoulder, brushing her hand over Grogu’s head. “You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to give you something to show you how happy you make Grogu and I.”

He breathed in deep and said the words he’d been wanting to say for ages. The cloak he’d repurposed for her under the tree suddenly felt small compared to what he had to say.

“Kar’taylir darasuum cyare.”

He closed his eyes and wished for a second that she knew his language. He wanted to communicate just how much love he had for her. 

Somehow she understood.

“I love you too Din. Happy Life Day.”

**Author's Note:**

> I did some digging and I'm pretty sure Din's parents were killed on Life Day (they were wearing red robes that look awfully like the traditional Life Day ones). So yikes!


End file.
